Ales for Sails brews tasty fundraiser for Erie's Maritime Center

Sean Causgrove, left, 26, of Erie, is handed the "Truffle Shuffle," a chocolate raspberry stout, by Bill Zimmer from Blue Canoe Brewery located in Titusville, Pa., during the Ales for Sails fundraiser event at the Bayfront Maritime Center in Erie on Feb 7. Over 400 people attended the event to try beer from eight regional craft breweries. JARID A. BARRINGER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

At their first winter Ales for Sails fundraiser in 2013, Bayfront Maritime Center officials had to cap attendance at 400 and turn away walk-up traffic.

The center saw attendance spike to 500 Friday at the second annual event, which was the first of the center's two main yearly fundraisers.

"We had a large donated boat in here and we got it moved out of here and some other things stowed away, and there's more room this year,'' said Rich Eisenberg, the center's executive director.

Those who attended the three-hour fundraiser could sample craft brews from eight regional breweries.

"We've partnered for a lot of events with the Maritime Center,'' said Chris Sirianni, owner and general manager of the Brewerie at Union Station. "They do good work with the kids here, and that makes events like this even better.''

The center's mission is to design and implement hands-on, maritime-themed educational, vocational and recreational community opportunities.

Maritime Center personnel work with at-risk youths and young adults, youths with disabilities, and children of refugees, immigrants and migrant workers.

"One of the big goals is just to raise awareness of who we are and what we're doing in the community, and the important work we're doing with these kids,'' Eisenberg said.

About 50 volunteers worked at Friday's event, which was sold out two weeks ago, Eisenberg said.

Proceeds will help fund several maritime-based programs, including the Bayfront Alternative Education Program, the Erie Adaptive Sailing Experience and the Project Sail after-school program.

"We're also starting a new program with veterans -- Veterans At Ease -- to alleviate post-traumatic stress disorder, and we're modeling it after a real successful program in Charleston, S.C.,'' Eisenberg said.

"We're working with the Veterans Administration and the VA hospital in Erie. Actually, people approached us to do this. They saw this program in South Carolina and heard how effective and cost-effective it was, so we're doing it, too,'' he said.